Deepsea Challenger sub damaged in truck fire
Jul 23, 2015, 10:00 PM
NORTH STONINGTON, Conn. (AP) — The submarine that visited the deepest spot in the world’s oceans has been scorched when a truck transporting the vessel caught fire on a Connecticut highway.
State Police responded to the Thursday fire on a truck transporting the Deepsea Challenger on Interstate 95 in North Stonington.
Filmmaker and ocean explorer James Cameron piloted the submersible in 2012 to a depth of nearly 35,800 feet in the deepest spot on the planet — the Mariana Trench near Guam.
The sub’s owner, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Falmouth, Massachusetts, said in a statement that the fire caused some damage to the submarine. The extent of the damage and the fire’s cause are under investigation.
The sub was to be shipped to Baltimore and then Australia on a temporary loan.
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